


moonstones

by thatonegaycousin (mannerofbeing)



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Arranged Marriage, Fire Lord Iroh, M/M, Prince Zuko - Freeform, adding more characters as i go along, energy bending, moon spirit au, sokka as yue, white haired sokka
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-10
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 02:02:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,575
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25815487
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mannerofbeing/pseuds/thatonegaycousin
Summary: in a world where zuko helped aang from the very beginning, sokka and katara never left the south pole. now that the war is over and their father is finally back home, the world is still not at peace. in an attempt to establish long reigning international peace, fire lord iroh and chief hakoda are the first of the nations to propose an arranged marriage between their people. sokka is betrothed to a man he's never met before. he's nervous about what he'll think about his white hair and tattoos, he's worried that they might not be able to save his dying civilization. unbeknownst to him, an even more dangerous threat looms in the horizon, a threat only he and his love will be able to face.
Relationships: Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 21
Kudos: 110





	1. refraction

he fidgeted in his new robes, made weeks in advance for this very occasion. they felt heavy on his shoulders, weighed down by the pelts of fur. despite the freezing temperature, sokka felt this suffocating heat that pricked his skin with needles. or perhaps that was just his anxiety. any minute now the ships that were on the horizon would dock at their ports, and with them his fate would draw nearer. 

it seemed as though katara could pick up on his unrest, and he felt her hand slip into his. his stomach eased a bit. whatever was to come from the union, better him than her. she was still too young to be brought into political affairs, but he was of age now. it was his duty to serve his people to the best of his ability, and this treaty would help rebuild his tribe. he owed that much to them. 

“what are you thinking?” she asked him in a low voice, even though it was just the two of them out on the watchtower he had built a few years ago. lately it’s where he had been spending most of his time, waiting for the day the ships would arrive. and today was that day. 

“just wondering i guess.” he didn’t need to say more than that. he was sure she understood. despite being the children of the chief, they lived in relatively small quarters. in comparison to their counterparts up in the northern tribe, they basically lived in a closet. they had no grandiose palace. decades ago before war had weathered away at the world their tribe had been strong, a place to be proud of. he still loved his home, but with the pending arrival of the fire nation it was as though he was viewing everything for the first time, and with a critical eye.

the watchtower he had built so long ago was lopsided. the igloos that many called their homes were small, the insides bare of decorations, holding just the necessities. the outer wall was mostly intact he supposed, but the destruction from the last invasion was still visible. and with a lack of waterbenders, it was difficult to rebuild. his father had asked their sister tribe for support but they too were busy trying to keep themselves afloat after surviving attack after attack. 

“he seemed handsome in his portrait,” katara said to reassure him. “aside from his, you know…” she made a vague gesture towards her face.

sokka bumped his hip into hers, “what, you weren’t a fan of the scar?” he teased. “good thing he’s gonna be my husband and not yours.” katara laughed but truth be told, he was happy that the prince had such a visible and prominent scar. he was particularly self conscious about his pale white hair that marked him as a freak even in his own tribe, and he didn’t like to think about what the newcomers might call him behind his back. when he had first received the prince’s portrait he wondered if he wore his scar with pride, or if he too felt a prickle of shame every time he looked at his reflection. he wondered if he would ever even get close enough with him to find out. 

“you look handsome too,” she continued, facing him and smoothing down the fur of his robe. she had helped him stitch the wolf he had hunted into something fit for a warrior, despite the fact that he was no soldier. “mom would be proud.” she reached up to her neck to touch the last relic either of them had of their mother and her eyes teared up. sokka drew her into a tight hug. he knew they had grieved their mother differently, the wound cutting far deeper into her than it had him. if they had lost their father that night instead, he knew he would still be recovering. just like he had followed his father everywhere when he was younger, katara had done the same with their mother. 

sokka let go of her slowly and realized that he was going to miss her dearly when the day came that they would inevitably have to part. out of the corner of his eye, he could see the ships getting near the shoreline. below them the people of the village were hustling to get things ready for the feast they were to have that night in honor of their guests. the people had mixed feelings about the fire nation, some were wary and had not yet forgotten the effects of the war, others were excited for the future and what this new treaty would bring. he didn’t quite know where his thoughts truly lied. 

“are you two up there?” he heard his father ask from the base of the tower. 

“yeah!” katara answered before he could. 

“i’d join you guys but i’m afraid this thing would collapse.” 

“aw c’mon!” he had worked on it for two weeks straight to distract himself from his parents’ absence. and maybe it wasn’t the most sturdy thing but it had held up over the years.

hakoda laughed and continued, “i think it’s time for us to head out to where they’ll dock.” 

he sighed mentally, but gestured for his sister to follow him down the slightly steep stairs. he said nothing to them when they reached him. hakoda was also dressed in newer garments, similar to sokka’s own. he could tell that his father was stressed by the whole ordeal of negotiating out a treaty, of trying to rebuild a broken society. anxiety seeped into him again, a lot was resting on his shoulders now too. 

together, silently, the three of them walked. in the center of the village, a large tarp had been set up. they had no building large enough to host a feast, but the tarp, lined with leather made from penguins, would protect them well enough from the ever present cold. distantly he could see his grandmother organizing the dishes and the bonfires. she had been preparing for weeks now. 

the docks weren’t too far from the outer wall. within a few minutes they were already standing at the shore’s edge. he could make out the ships more clearly now, the dark red insignia of fire nation flags a stark contrast with the light blue of the sky. on the deck of the ship he could see a large beast resting calmly. he had never seen an animal of that magnitude. “what is that?” he asked. 

“it seems that the fire lord did not come alone,” hakoda responded and it suddenly clicked for sokka. 

it made sense for the avatar to be there to help negotiate the deal and to make sure nothing went awry. still, his presence did nothing to ease the tension in his body. the ocean lapped gently at the edge of the shore. he tried to focus his breathing on that, the constant push and pull of the waves. calm, cool, and collected. 

the far two ships docked first, the ramps sliding down to connect them to shore. in a single file line the guards exited the ship and stayed off to the sides. the ship in the middle, the largest and most ornate of the three landed last. a boy with bright blue tattoos leaned forward on the railings of the deck. he didn’t bother waiting for the ramp to descend and instead jumped off the side of the boat. 

katara gasped and stepped forward, he didn’t know how she was planning on helping from fifty feet away, but it didn’t matter because the boy landed nimbly on his feet, the snow around him gently blowing away. “chief hakoda!” he yelled out in greeting, waving while jumping. 

“avatar aang,” his father greeted warmly in return and led them nearer. “it’s our honor to welcome you to the southern water tribe. these are my two children, sokka and katara.” 

sokka bowed, and elbowed katara to do the same. “we’re honored to be able to meet you avatar aang.” he said.

“ah,” he scratched in head in a sheepish manner. “just aang is fine! and it’s an honor to be here! i’ve never been to the southern water tribe before. i couldn’t believe that zuko was about to leave without me.” 

as if the prince’s name were a cue, the ramp lowered from the main ship. with no guards flanking them, the fire lord and his nephew walked down the metal strip. aang stopped mid-conversation and turned to watch as well. his father’s descriptions couldn’t have matched the fire lord better. despite the dark and extravagant colors of his robes, he had a kind and warm face. as for the prince, well. sokka had spent a long time memorizing every detail of the portrait he had received. he was sure he could draw him in his sleep. he met his eyes briefly but quickly looked down and flushed. they were the color of embers of a dying fire. he had never seen eyes with such a hue. 

his father bowed when they were level to them. sokka followed suit. “fire lord iroh, prince zuko. the southern water tribe is honored to host you.”

“chief hakoda, it is an honor to be welcomed to your tribe as allies,” the fire lord responded in a slow drawl. the prince joined his uncle in raising his right fist to their open palms and bowing. sokka tried to keep his eyes trained on the fire lord. “and these must be your children, sokka and katara.” 

“it’s a pleasure to meet you sir,” katara said sweetly. 

“the pleasure is all mine, when i tell you that not a single day went by that your father did not mention his children, well-” iroh chuckled. “he would go on and on about how proud he was of his waterbending daughter, and of his brave son who stayed behind to defend the village.” 

his father must not have mentioned how hard he begged to let him go with them, how he too had wanted to avenge his mother’s death. probably for the better that he hadn’t. unwillingly his gaze turned to zuko. he had his hair up in a high ponytail, wrapped in gold leaves made to mimic the flames of fire. he stayed one step behind his uncle with his hands behind his back, silent. his eyes had been trained on hakoda, but it seemed as though he could feel his scrutiny and they quickly met his own. 

sokka fought to keep his blush down at having been caught and jutted his chin out slightly. he could see the prince’s eyes go up to his white hair, down to the tattoos on his forehead. he skipped his eyes and went a little bit further down to where sokka had lines and dots decorating his chin. he wondered what he thought of him. did he think he was handsome too? or did he think of him as nothing more than a savage with primitive ways? zuko cleared his throat and sokka looked towards his father. 

“huh?” 

“i was just saying that while iroh and i discuss politics, you should show prince zuko around,” hakoda said in amusement. he must’ve spaced out, and now everyone was staring at him, waiting for a response. 

“y-yes, of course.” he stammered out and cursed himself internally. “i would love to.” 

“well then, hopefully we can figure a few things out before dinner,” hakoda said and gestured towards iroh, who patted his stomach. 

“i have been looking forward to those sea urchin rice balls of yours the whole voyage,” he said. “i hope you behave yourself nephew, we’ll see you at dinner.” 

“yes uncle,” zuko said in a low voice. it was the first time he had spoken. sokka kind of liked how deep his voice was. distantly he heard katara ask aang about waterbending,and he knew that they would be preoccupied with each other for awhile. good on her for finally finding someone who could teach her. 

and so it was just him and the prince. they looked at one another in awkward silence, waiting for the other to speak. 

“so it’s nice to finally-” 

“my name is zu-” they spoke at the same time and both stopped immediately when they realized. 

sokka laughed, “sorry, you first.” he saw that the other boy’s cheeks had turned red, like actually red. he had never seen skin so pale before. if he had been a bit farther away it might have even begun to blend in with the snow, if it weren’t for the raised scar that was across his eye. 

“i- yeah, okay. my name is zuko, but you probably already knew that…” he trailed off and looked self-conscious. “um, what were you saying?” 

“well,  _ zuko _ , i was just saying that it’s nice to finally meet you.” he put emphasis on his name just to see him grimace and smiled to himself. near the ship there was a loud splash of water, too loud to be a wave. katara was laughing while aang was soaked. even though he had just been drenched in freezing water, he was looking at his sister in admiration and maybe even just a little bit starstruck. “is that something i should be worried about?” 

zuko huffed. “aang’s a sweet kid. she’ll be alright.”

he hummed in response. “we can head into the village now if you’d like.” he offered. zuko nodded. two of the guards behind him made to follow him, but he raised his hand and they fell back into place. sokka gestured for zuko to stay close to him, and together they began to walk towards the village. 

“so this is the outerwall,” he said as they passed through it. before them was a layout of igloos, all at a distance from each other. in the middle of them was the set up for the feast. the smell of cooking meat and stew wafted through the air and his stomach growled. “shut up,” he whispered viciously to it. zuko looked at him in amusement. “i was too nervous to eat all day,” he explained. “not that i was nervous to meet you!” he said quickly when he realized how that might have sounded. “well, i was, but not in a bad way- you know what? i’ll just stop talking.” 

zuko laughed, and even if it was at his expense he was still happy to hear it. “i understand, i was nervous too. still am, actually.” 

sokka ran his hand through his hair and sighed. “that’s good to hear. may the bigger nervous wreck win.” 

truth be told, there wasn’t much in the village to show. he walked zuko briefly through the process of making an igloo, which was mainly just using a lot of ice, and then pointed out the few teepee tents they had set up for storing food. zuko seemed to be genuinely interested in the process though, which quelled the traitorous voice inside his head that told him he was rambling and being annoying. “and over there is the watchtower that i built a few years ago and-” 

“wait,” he said, and sokka stopped. “you built that?” 

“yeah, traditionally the men do most of the building. waterbenders too, of course. but we don’t have many of those around anymore. i built you an igloo too, actually.” 

“you built me an igloo?”

“which i realize now i shouldn’t have because you’ll probably want to sleep in your quarters on your ship and sleeping in ice instead of fire must be super weird to you but-” 

“hey,” zuko grabbed his arm and he closed his mouth. “i would love to sleep in the igloo you built me. i was just a bit surprised. nobody has ever built me an igloo before.” he would hope nobody had ever built him an igloo before, or else sokka would have just been a name on a long list of attempted water tribe betrothals. “and i don’t sleep in fire,” he laughed. “i’m not sure about you but i usually sleep on a bed. if i’m really roughing it out, then maybe on a pile of leaves.” 

“well at least after tonight you can add “on a pile of snow” to that list,” he joked. but in actuality he had spent an embarrassing amount of time in planning out the small room and an even longer amount of time making sure it was perfect. pile of snow his ass. 

“could i see what you built for me?” he asked.

he nodded and walked them over to where a grouping of five igloos stood, separated from the rest of the residential structures. “this one here is mine,” he said, and then a few yards away, “this is yours.” he had coerced katara into bending snow into sturdy blocks of ice so he could use them for his little project. “after you,” he said to zuko, and watched as the prince disappeared behind the pelt he had hung up to cover the doorway. he followed in right after him. 

he had smoothed the blocks of ice until they were no longer jagged, and he had left a few blocks inside to be used as a table. off to the far left he had placed the warmest pelts he could make to be used as blankets, with a hand sewn pillow made from a polar bear dog on top.in the center he had placed rocks in a circle, for a fire. he knew it wasn’t much, that the prince was probably used to more, but it was honest work, and he was proud. 

he turned around to ask him what he thought, only to see that zuko had pulled out a small rectangular box from his pocket. “i know that neither of us really chose this, but i had this made for you.” he handed it over abruptly, and sokka carefully opened the box and his breath caught in his throat.

he looked down at the betrothal necklace in his hands. the craftsmanship was superior to anything he would have been able to carve out crudely. the band of the necklace was a line of bright white stones inlaid into gold. the pendant was an even larger white stone, with the design of a wave turning into a flame carved out delicately into it. water tribe and fire nation together as one. 

“do you like it?” zuko asked him. there was a hint of vulnerability in his voice. “if not, we can get another one made, tailored to your taste. my uncle informed me of your traditions, but if you’d rather forgo it-” 

“i love it, zuko. thank you, truly. it’s beautiful.” and it was. he had never seen anything quite like it. “would you help me put it on?” zuko nodded, and sokka dropped the necklace in his hands. he moved around him and carefully laid the jewelry on his neck to clasp it in the back. his fingers felt hot against his skin. did all firebenders run at this temperature or was it just zuko? 

“there,” zuko said and stepped away. the stones had a slight weight to them, and sokka touched them lightly. they seemed to glow under his touch, and they reflected tiny slivers of colored light against the walls of the igloo. “i asked for moonstone to be used,” he added, also admiring the way they shined on the ice. “i didn’t know they’d react like this to a bender.” 

“mm, i’m not a bender.” 

“oh. sorry, i just assumed, because of your hair.” zuko murmured, his voice getting harder to hear with each word. 

“no, it’s fine. a lot of people assume i can do some cool mystical shit, because of my hair, but i can’t.” some women used to say when he was younger that it would have made more sense for him, the son of the chief, to have waterbending. it was a good thing that katara had never given into that sexist bullshit. 

“can i ask why it’s like that, if you don’t mind me asking? it’s just that i’ve never seen anyone that looks like you.” zuko said, and sokka knew he didn’t mean it in malice, but it still stung a little bit. yeah, he knew he looked different than everybody else, that he would always stand out, that even his fellow tribesmen didn’t want him going to war because of the rumors circulating about him. 

“i’ll tell you, but only if you tell me how you got your scar.” he said in return. zuko’s eyes widened a bit, but he nodded. perhaps he too felt a certain type of kinship with him, in regards to their odd appearances. “we should probably get comfortable.” he gestured towards the pile of pelts and took off his own to set it down so he could sit. he waited for zuko to sit, and began. 

  
  
  



	2. reflection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sokka delves into the tale of how he got his white hair, and zuko shares with him how he got his scar. perhaps he didn't choose him to love, but sokka thinks that the type of boy that misses his turtle ducks is the type of boy he could come to like.

there wasn’t too much from his childhood that he could remember, he started. the days at the south pole tended to all blend together, repetitive day in and day out. he and his people lived off the land, and so there was the same work to be done everyday. it was routine enough to him that it was likely that even with his eyes binded he could skin a fish with precision. muscle memory was a lot easier to keep up than his actual memories. if he weren’t so scared to acknowledge it, he would admit that he was even beginning to forget how his mother looked like, felt like, smelled like. but he was scared of the way that everytime he tried to picture her face somehow katara’s was the only one he could conjure up. he kept that to himself.

the earliest memory he had involved a strange bright light, but it was one of those memories where he wasn’t sure if it was actually his or if he had fabricated it after his mother had told him the story of how the spirits had blessed him. “she told me that the night that i was cured, the spirits danced in the sky to celebrate.” his voice sounded sad even to him. he shook his head a little and saw that zuko had kept a mostly blank face, but his eyes. he could see his own sorrow reflected in them.

the way that sokka had been told the story, he explained, was that he had gotten very sick at a very young age. how he had gotten sick, well... nobody quite knew that. but it also depended on who you asked. some wives whispered amongst themselves that it was his mother’s spirit that had attached itself to him in some misguided attempt to pass on to the next life, but sokka called bullshit on that, because by the time his mother had died, his hair had already been white for years. he didn’t blame them too much though. it was easy to get confused when every day was the same.

katara had been too young, she never even remembered a time in which he looked any different. his grandmother said it was because hunters had not properly spiritually cleansed the animal from which he had eaten, and because of his age, it had been he who had suffered the consequence. 

hakoda thought it was because a week prior, he had taken him on a fishing trip and sokka had fallen into the freezing water. either way, sokka had been gravely ill and no medicine or cleansing had worked for him at all. the tattoos on his forehead were done to spiritually cleanse him, just in case an animal spirit had attached itself to him. the dots on his eyelids were later done because he would not stop crying. “it’s our tradition,” he rushed to explain when he saw the slight downturn of zuko’s lips. “tattoos are for people of all ages, they’re deeply rooted into our culture.” he hummed in response and sokka took that as a cue to continue. 

“i had been getting worse everyday, and my parents didn’t know what to do anymore. they had done what they could for me here, but it wasn’t enough. eventually, my mom packed up enough supplies to last her a week and strapped me to her chest, and left katara with my dad. she was gone for almost four days out in the tundra, but when she returned with me, my hair was white and so were my tattoos,” he finished and looked up from where he had been picking at his pelt. zuko had leaned forward a bit while he was listening and his forearms rested on top of his knees. 

it seemed as though he was waiting for more, but he realized he was done with his tale after a few seconds. “but where did she take you?” his brow drew closer to his scar, the skin where his other eyebrow should have been pulled taut. “i had understood that this was the last remaining tribe of the south.” 

sokka smiled wryly. “yeah, we are. nobody really knows. believe it or not i’ve been the talk of the town for about fifteen years now. the theories change every other year. only my mom ever knew, but i guess it’s something that followed her to her grave.” 

“i’m sorry you lost her,” he said to him, and he could feel that the other boy meant it. zuko cleared his throat. it looked as if he didn’t know if he wanted to continue or not. “i lost my mother too,” he said slowly. 

“i’m sorry,” sokka whispered, and reached out to touch his arm and kept his hand there.

“thank you,” he said. he noticed how he didn’t say  _ it’s okay  _ or  _ it’s fine _ , as most would have. he must have still been healing from the loss.

“you asked about my scar.” it wasn’t so much of a question as it was a statement. sokka nodded. when he had first received the portrait of the prince, he had come up with hundreds of scenarios as to how a firebender could have gotten such a burn, but nothing could have prepared him for what the truth actually was. “my father gave it to me.” 

sokka’s heart skipped a beat as he processed the words. the way zuko had said it left no room for doubt, his own father had burned him on purpose. he knew that the old fire lord had been an evil man desperate for power, but to harm his own son? his chest ached. he pressed his lips together to avoid saying something stupid like  _ sorry _ because that didn’t seem like enough. he squeezed zuko’s arm and hoped he understood. 

“i’m glad the avatar took care of him,” he said.

he snorted. “you and the whole world.” zuko’s eyes stayed fixed on a spot over sokka’s shoulder, avoiding his gaze.

sokka didn’t know what to say to that. he tried to imagine how he would feel if hakoda ever tried harming him. would he hate him completely for the betrayal? because at the end of the day that was his father, and a part of him would always love him and would always seek out his approval no matter what. and despite zuko’s father being a threat to the world, he was still his father. he knew that things weren’t always so black and white, but it didn’t feel like his place to voice that. he stayed silent. 

zuko cleared his throat and glanced at him. his hand felt as heavy as a glacier with the sudden awareness that he was still resting it on him. he tried to play it off by running his hand through his hair, but he was fooling nobody. his face heated up unwillingly and he could only hope that his darker shade would help hide his embarrassment. zuko had pressed his lips together into a thin white line, in a way that looked as though he were suppressing his smile. 

“um, so can i ask what the tattoos on your chin mean?” he asked before sokka would have inevitably said or done something to further humiliate himself. 

“yeah!” he said quickly. “so i got these when i became of age a few months ago on the winter solstice, they’re supposed to signify that i’m ready for marriage and can be wed off or whatever.” he tried to keep his tone nonchalant as if he hadn’t been counting down the days before his tattoo ceremony in nervous anticipation. his grandmother had taken her time to ensure the steadiest of lines running up towards the middle of his lips, the white ink carefully procured from a glacier lily in order to match the rest of his tattoos.

“you probably had the whole village lined up outside your igloo afterwards.” 

sokka laughed. “sure,” he said sarcastically. “had to fight off all my suitors with my boomerang here. unfortunately none of them made it out alive. quite a tragedy if you ask me.” 

“i wasn’t trying to make a joke.” zuko said plainly. 

he tried to let go of his insecurities and the voice in his head that told him that no one would ever want him because of how different he looked, and told himself that the prince of the fire nation didn’t know much about the state of the southern water tribe. “yeah i know, it’s just that- well. i’m not sure if you noticed on our little tour of my little village, but i’m the only one my age here. the oldest of the kids is only twelve and the youngest of the adults is closer to forty than he is to my age. katara is not included in there for obvious reasons.” 

“oh.” zuko shifted on the pelts. 

“so... you know. it’s a little funny to me.” he blinked. “come to think of it, you’re literally the first person my own age i’ve ever met.” 

a look of realization formed on zuko’s face and he frowned mentally. what had he realized? his painfully awkward lack of experience? or maybe he was beginning to understand just why sokka was the one chosen to be the bridge between the water tribe and the fire nation. “but what about you?” he nudged him with his foot. “any crazy ex i should know about?” 

“just one i guess…” zuko trailed off with a far away look. it was obvious his mind had taken him back to some memory. “but she’s not crazy, she’s one of the most loyal people i know.” 

“oh.” he hadn’t expected such an honest response. he rubbed his neck and was met with the cool feeling of his necklace. “you guys didn’t break up because of…?” he couldn’t even finish his question. the immediate awareness that the prince surely had a life outside of politics and going off on adventures with the avatar hit him. he wasn’t like sokka, who in all of his isolation had never once thought that something like marriage was in the cards for him unless he one day decided to abandon his tribe and go off in search for something more. 

even though he didn’t finish, zuko understood. “ah, no. we decided to break things off before the treaty was even on the table. it wasn’t because of you or anything.”

“thank the spirits,” he said in a breath of relief. “i wouldn’t have been able to live with myself if you had given up the love of your life because of politics.” he froze immediately as soon as the words left his mouth. he had always had the bad habit of saying things without first thinking it through.

the prince hummed but didn’t respond right away. “she wasn’t the love of my life,” he began hesitantly. “but it’s not like i was ever free to truly choose.” the pressure of a broken world laid on his shoulders, that much sokka could tell from his tone. as royalty, even with the old fire lord defeated, the same fate awaited him. “wait,” he backtracked. “that didn’t come out the way i wanted it to.” sokka had tried his best to keep his face a blank slate, but it seemed he had failed. “i just meant, we’re both next in line to be leaders of our nations. our duty lies with our people before ourselves.”

at the age of seven, sokka had dreamed of sailing out to find his destiny, to explore the world. he would tell himself that there had to be more to life. struggling to survive couldn’t be all there was. he wanted to see the air temples, swim in an oasis, see the walls of the earth kingdom. he wanted more than what the southern water tribe had to offer him. but then the fire nation attacked and his father went off to war and he realized that it didn’t matter what he wanted to do when what he needed to do was more important.

“i think the same thing, prince zuko,” sokka assured him. he patted him twice to try to convey that he wasn’t offended before standing up. “c’mon, have you ever seen a turtle seal before?” he held his hand out and helped the other boy up. with the sudden proximity, sokka realized that he stood about an inch taller than the prince. 

“i can’t say that i have,” he admitted.

“well i can change that,” he said with a sly grin, and quickly ducked out. he held up the pelt and the prince followed after him. there was a cliffside that he frequented that overlooked the herd of turtle seals. it was best to observe them from a distance, they were the type of animal to scare easily. 

the air was a bit nippier than it was when the fire nation ships had first arrived, despite the fact that sokka felt as if no time had passed. he didn’t feel like passing through the center of the village again, the smell of food sat heavy in the air and he wasn’t too sure his stomach wouldn’t lead him to a pot of seaweed soup. so he took them around the outskirts of the village, saying nothing to each other the whole time. 

it seemed that the prince wasn’t keen on starting a conversation out of the blue, or maybe he was comfortable with silence in a way that sokka wasn’t. the light layer of snow beneath their feet crunched with the weight of their steps, and sokka being sokka couldn’t help but look over to the prince as they began the slight incline up that would take them towards the edge of the cliff. he seemed to be faring well with the cold, his breaths coming out in slight puffs that had a hint of smoke in them. 

“you look like a dragon,” he noted. of course he couldn’t stay quiet for long. 

prince zuko’s lips quirked up and he huffed, flames shooting out of his nose. sokka couldn’t stop himself from falling back out of surprise, but laughed after the initial shock wore off. the snow had melted right under where the prince had been standing, his shoes darkening into a deeper color from the water, but he didn’t seem to mind as he was too busy snickering at how sokka had landed on his ass in the snow. “alright, alright,” sokka said, pretending to kneel forward to get up. “laugh it up jerkbender, because i’m about to introduce you to the ancient art of  _ snowbending! _ ” he shot up and hurled his snowball at him.

he had fully expected it to land squarely in the middle of his chest, he was known in his village for his clean shots, but the prince had ducked at an astonishingly fast speed and the snowball barely grazed his hair. “snowbending, huh?” zuko repeated in a tone that suggested he would soon return the favor. sokka scrambled up into a defensive position and waited for his next move. 

zuko scooped up snow into his hands and pressed it tightly, but furrowed his brow as slush fell through his fingers. he huffed and tried to scoop up more snow, but was faced with the same problem. “it keeps melting!” he exclaimed. 

sokka grinned. “well isn’t that just such a shame.” he reached down for more snow and let the feeling of smugness spread through him as he watched the prince take on a look of apprehension. 

“a tragedy, if you will,” zuko said, keeping his eyes trained closely on the snow ball. 

“an absolute tragedy,” he agreed, and aimed for his chest again, but he barely managed to even graze his leg. he sighed and dropped the hope of being able to have a good snowball fight. “learn how to hold snow without turning it into water so we can have a proper fight. katara’s no fun, she always uses her bending and i somehow always end up drenched.” 

with the threat of getting hit gone, zuko straightened up. “can’t imagine that’s fair.” 

“that’s what i say!” sokka wiped his hands on his pelt. “i figure you being a firebender and all will even out the playing field.” 

“and if i beat you what do i win?” 

sokka laughed and spoke over his shoulder as he started walking. “i’m already giving you my hand in marriage, what more do you want? don’t tell me you want my sister too.” 

the prince’s ears turned pink and he spluttered. “i- w-what? no! no, i didn’t mean anything like that!” 

he didn’t think one of his jokes would get him so flustered. sokka raised his hands to placate him, “chill out! i was just kidding, assume that half of what i say is a joke.” 

zuko huffed a bit as he caught up and drew near. sokka elbowed him lightly. “tell you what,” he said. “if you beat me, i’ll take you penguin sledding.” 

the prince was silent for a bit. “i’ll look forward to it.” 

sokka tutted. “now you see, it’s not really something you can look forward to because you won’t beat me.” 

they sat on the cliff overlooking the herd of turtle seals below them. many were on their bellies, lounging and enjoying the sun that did little to warm the air. a few of the pups were chasing each other in the water, clapping their fins when one of them was caught. 

“back home, in the palace courtyard, there are these turtle ducks that live in the pond.” the prince shared with him in a quiet voice, his eyes firmly focused on the herd. “i’m particularly fond of them. i go to feed at least once a week.” 

sokka hummed. “they must be missing you something awful now that you’re here.” 

from the side he could see him give a wry smile. “the feeling is mutual.” they didn’t speak after that, preferring to just observe the antics of the pups instead of filling in the silence with things neither one of them wanted to say out loud. sokka didn’t know who he was expecting to get off that boat, but the type of boy that missed his turtle ducks was a welcome surprise, and for a moment, sokka let something warm and unidentifiable bloom inside of his chest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahhhh!!!!! sorry for taking so long!! uni started back up and i'm loaded up w a lot of readings and an insane amount of essays, so i'm a bit pressed for time to write leisurely. anyways i hoped u guys like this! i have a good portion of the next chap written, so i hope i can finish it soon. i thrive off of validation so kudos and comments are welcome! i tried to do thorough research on inuit tattoos so i could stay true to the culture whilst still adding an element of fiction bc bending, hope i did a decent job incorporating that. let me know what u think!

**Author's Note:**

> hope u guys liked it and that everything made sense! for the fic's sake, sokka is 17, and zuko is 18.


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